A day after a heartbreaking loss that put their national championship hopes in jeopardy, the men’s basketball team rebounded with a 78–68 victory over the Simon Fraser Clan in the bronze medal match at the Canada West Final Four to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“This team is a special team, and we didn’t want to give up that chance at the nationals,” said Kyle Watson, who had seven points and a team high 12 rebounds in his final home game for the T-Birds. “We can keep winning, I think we just need to have fun. We’ve been having fun all year.”

The “fun” was abruptly put on hold Friday night, however, when the No. 10 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies shocked UBC 104–87 in overtime, giving the team its first loss at home all year, and silencing the 1411 fans in attendance who had hoped to see the Thunderbirds clinch a spot in the CIS Championship.

It was a game full of drama. Josh Whyte, UBC’s star player and Canada West MVP, had sat out practice all week with a sore hamstring, and though he played, it was clear the T-Birds’ offence was out of sync. Still, with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter and down by one, Whyte tied the game on a free throw. The Huskies had a chance to respond, as Nolan Brudehl was fouled under the basket with just 0.6 seconds left. All he needed was just one free throw to win the game. He missed both, and UBC was given a second lease on life.

But in overtime, UBC was lethargic and disorganized, and Saskatchewan dismantled them, outscoring the ‘Birds 19–2 in the five-minute frame. It was an embarrassment that led to a closed-door, 30-minute meeting immediately afterwards. It seemed to have worked, as UBC came out with a 10–0 lead to start Saturday’s game against the Clan—their last in the CIS before heading to the NCAA next season.

“I told the team…even Muhammad Ali got knocked out a couple times and got back up to fight again,” said head coach Kevin Hanson after the victory, “and that’s something we have to be ready to do.”

Blain LaBranche, who led UBC with 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting, continued with the boxing metaphors. “[The Huskies] outplayed us, and sometimes you take it on your chin, and come out punching the next day,” he said. “I’m praying we face Saskatchewan in the nationals now.”

Whether UBC gets that chance will have to wait until next week, when the wild card berth for the CIS Championships, held in Ottawa March 19–21, will be announced. After being ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season, the T-Birds are expected to claim the spot, and Hanson hopes that the loss against the Huskies provides motivation.

“If we’re fortunate enough to get that wildcard, as an example we can look at the Olympics (men’s hockey tournament) where Canada lost to the US in the first round. It would be a great scenario to for us to have that same chance in two weeks.”

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